Apparatus for making sheet-metal profiles with free-standing tongues

ABSTRACT

A seaming device with a plurality of rollers, disposed one behind the other for the profiling of sheet-metal strips, which comprises a plurality of profiling roller stations an addition head is provided behind the last of the profiling roller stations for producing free-cut, detached tongues. The head includes knife and counterknife rollers and the latter is placed in rotation by the advance of the sheet-metal strip.

United States Patent 1 1 Fastenrath [451 Feb.4, 1975 1 APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHEET-METAL PROFILES WITH FREE-STANDING TONGUES [75] Inventor: Karl Heinz Fastenrath,

Wermelskirchen, Germany [73] Assignee: Firma Fasti-Werk Carl Aug.

Fastenratli, Wermelskirchen/Rhld., Germany 22 Filed: Nov. 7, 1972 121] App1.No.:304,373

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data 1,888,151 11/1932 Walper 72/186 2,363,972 11/1944 Kellogg 113/1 N 2.436383 2/1948 Dettman t 1 t H 113/54 2,945,462 7/1960 Oberauer .1 113/1 N 3,135,311 6/1964 Green 72/186 3,444,717 5/1969 Saunders 113/54 FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 4,341 3/1965 Japan 72/177 Primary Examiner-Richard J. Herbst Attorney, Agent, or FirmErnest G. Montague [57] ABSTRACT A seaming device with a plurality of rollers, disposed one behind the other for the profiling of sheet-metal strips, which comprises a plurality of profiling roller stations an addition head is provided behind the last of the profiling roller stations for producing free-cut, detached tongues. The head includes knife and counterknife rollers and the latter is placed in rotation by the advance of the sheet-metal strip.

3 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures lYYlZ/IZZZ PAHNIEDFEB 4W5 SHEET 1 UF 3 FIG. 2

ems

PATENTEU M975 3.863.482

SHEET 2 BF 3 1 mmm a PATENTEBFEB 41% 3,863,482

SHEET 3 BF 3 APPARATUS FOR MAKING SHEET-METAL PROFILES WITH FREE-STANDING TONGUES The present invention relates to a seaming device having a plurality of rollers arranged one behind another for the profiling of sheet-metal strip or the like in continuous operation.

Sheet-metal parts are connected together by seaming, particularly in the ventilating and air-conditioning arts. In the case of a corner seam, namely a so-called snap-seam connection, seam consists of a snap fold and a tongue stand-up fold which is angular in cross-section and the free-cut cams or tongues of which serve to grip behind a longitudinal edge of the snap fold which is bent over. In order to produce the folds there are used sets of rollers. However, it is not possible to produce tongue stand-up folds by means of sets of rollers which permit the production of a stand-up fold, which otherwise has the same cross-sectional shape, aside from the tongues, as does the tongue stand-up fold. For the latter, it is necessary in the case of the seaming device of this type, for another set of rollers to be provided on. This results on the one hand in a substantial expense because of the additional set of rollers which must be provided and, on the other hand, in a considerable loss in time for the required change of rollers. Furthermore, a set of rollers serving for obtaining of such tongue stand-up folds requires a separately driven knife-roller station which lies on the entrance side and at which the tongues are cut free in the sheet-metal strips while the latter are still flat.

It is one object of the present invention to provide a seaming device having a plurality of rollers arranged one behind the other which includes a drive-free device for obtaining the free-cut cams or tongues in such a manner that the ordinary set of rollers for the production ofthe tongue stand-up fold can be used for the formation of the stand folds.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a seaming device of the type which permits also the manufacture ofa tongue stand-up fold with the use of a single set of rolls, namely that for one stand-up fold. This makes it possible to arrange the additional head behind the last profiling-roller station which head, by means of its knife and counterknife rollers, produces the free-cut, disengaged cams or tongues. Here the invention has made use of the discovery that crosssectionally profiled sheets or sheetmetal strips have a greater resistance to buckling, so that the sheet-metal strip advanced by the profiling rollers arranged in front ofthe additional head can be brought without deviation through the knife and counter-knife rollers while the driving the latter. Although the driving friction occurring on the knife rollers is reasonably large, even sheetmetal strips of small thickness can be provided easily with tongue stand-up folds by the seaming device. As a result of the driving ofthe knife rollers by the profiled sheetmetal strips, no separate drive need be provided for these rollers. By the bipartite nature of the additional head and the vertical arrangement of the axes of the knife and counterknife rollers in the plane of the junction of the bearing upper plate and lower plate in such a manner that the counterknife roller is seated on the part of the housing associated with the bearing upper plate and the knife roller on the part of the housing of the additional head provided on the bearing lower plate, the sheet-metal strip is held in proper operational cutting position in the knife roller station, and therefore in the additional head, by the bearing upper plate which is resiliently engaged in the direction of the bearing lower plate. If the support of the vertical shaft of the knife roller is provided on a horizontally displaceable carriage, it is possible merely by longitudinal displacement of the carriage to bring the knife rollcr out of cooperation with the counterknifc roller; this, permits forming stand-up folds by means of the same set of rollers, without removing the additional head. A release handle actuated lock blocks the active position between knife roller and the counterknife roller, so that the latter cannot be lifted off unintentionally, thus in creasing the operational safety of the device in accordance with the present invention. It is then possible, as a result of the pair of extraction rollers arranged behind the addition head, to work even short sheet-metal strips on said device.

These and other objects will become apparent from the following detailed description of the present invention in connection with the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is an elevation of the seaming device designed in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a section along the line A-B of FIG. I, but with the omission of the profiling rollers;

FIG. 3 is an enlargement of the portion x" of FIG.

FIG. 4a is a schematic showing of a single stand fold; (in cross section) FIG. 4b is a schematic showing ofa tongue stand fold;

FIG. 4c is a schematic showing of the tongue standup fold introduced into a snap-fold connection; and

FIG. 5 is a cross-section through the additional head in the region of the knife and counterknife roller shafts.

SPECIFIC DESCRIPTION The seaming device has a lower frame I and the bearing lower plates 4 and 4 located parallel to each other and fastened to the spars 2 of the lower frame I, bearing upper plates 3 and 3' being associated with the bearing lower plates 4 and 4'.

In the bearing lower plates 4 and 4' and the bearing upper plates 3 and 3' there are supported, arranged behind each other, roller shafts 5 and 5 in such a manner, that pairs of shafts lie one above the other in a plane (FIG. 2). In the illustrative embodiment, there are provided seven pairs of shafts 5 and 5, whereby stations I to VII are formed.

In each of the upper roller shafts 5 there are provided corresponding roller recesses 6 7 and 8, while the lower roller shafts 5' have the roller recesses 6', 7' and 8'. The drive of the roller shafts 5 and 5' is effected via a three-phase motor 9 via a drive (not shown) to the drive meshing gears I0 and 10' on the roller shafts 5 and 5' and are offset towards one side along the wide side of the bearing plate 3' and 4'.

The upper bearing plates 3 and 3' are urged resiliently in the direction of the bearing lower plates 4 and 4'. Spring columns II serve for this purpose (FIG. 3). The columns 11 consist of a stay bolt 13 passing through the bearing plates 3 and 3' in a bore 8, the lower threaded section of which is screwed into the lower bearing plates 4 and 4', respectively. The bore B extends from the upper face surface ofthe upper bearing plates 3,3 into a depression formed by a bore section B of larger cross-section, in which depression there lies a stack of cup springs 12 which rest at one end against the step formed by the larger bore section B and at the other end against a tightening nut 14 of the stay bolt 13, which has a correspondingly threaded section for this purpose.

The spacer rings 26 seated on the stay bolts 13 between the bearing upper plate and the bearing lower plate assure a minimum spacing of the upper and lower bearing plates with respect to each other,

On the roller recesses 8 and 8' there are placed at stations l to V profiling rollers (not shown) by means of which single stand folds (see FIG. 4a as well as double stand folds, can be made. If, however, a tongue stand fold 16 with free-cut tongues 16 (see FIG. 4b) is to be produced for a snap fold connection in accordance with FIG. 4c, consisting of snap fold l and tongue stand-up fold 16, there is required the additional head 2 fastened at position V1 to the bearing upper and lower plates 3 and 4. Behind this additional head 2 there is arranged a pair of extraction rollers at station 2 Vll.

The roller recesses 8 and 8 of the pair of roller shafts 5, 5' are not occupied at position VI and are covered by the bipartite housing of the addition head Z, i.e., the roller shaft ends are received in recesses of housing parts 24 and 25. The upper housing part 24 fastened to the upper bearing plate 3 bears the vertical shaft 23' with counterknife roller 23 supported on it, On the lower housing part 25 arranged on the bearing lower plate 4 there is seated in a carriage in vertical arrangement the shaft 19 for the knife roller 17 the circumferential surface of which tapers in approximately frustoconical shape, and comes against the correspondingly shaped circumferential surface of the counterknife roller 23.

The carriage 20 which is horizontally displaceable in the lower housing part is provided with a hand lever 18 by means of which the carriage 20 and thus the knife roller 17 can be brought into operating position. A compression spring 28 provided on this hand lever 18 urges the carriage 20 in the direction of release of the knife roller 17, Le, away from roller 23.

In order that the carriage 20 does not shift unintentionally, it has a stop shoulder 20' in front of which there may be interposed a lock bolt 21 fastened to a release handle 22. This lock bolt 21 blocks the active position between knife and counterknife rollers 17 and 23 (see FIG. 5). In this position a tongue stand fold is produced upon the passage of a sheet-metal strip.

if, on the other hand, only a stand fold is to be produced, then the lock bolt 21, by rotating the release handle 22 in the direction indicated by the arrow y, releases the carriage 20 which moves under spring load into the release position.

Upon the shaping of a tongue stand-up fold and passage of the sheetmetal strip through the addition head, there takes place by the arrangement of the knife and counterknife rollers 17 and 23 in the separation joint F between bearing upper and lower plates 3, 4, 3' and 4' in accordance with their spring loading a movement directed towards each other, the sheetmetal strip, due to the circumferential shape of the knife and counterknife rollers, being held in proper cutting position.

While I have disclosed several embodiments of the present invention, it is to be understood that these embodiments are given by example only and not in a limiting sense.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus for producing an angle profile from a sheet-metal strip and comprising a pair of horizontal parallel bearing plates including an upper bearing plate and a lower bearing plate, a plurality of pairs of shafts journaled in said bearing plates, said pairs of shafts being horizontally spaced along said plates and having shaft portions defining a transport path for said strip between the shafts of each pair, the shafts of each pair lying in common vertical planes transverse to said path and being coupled for synchronous rotation, said portions of said shafts being constructed to receive respective strip-profiling rollers, and a common drive for said shafts, the improvement which comprises:

a tongue-cutting head mounted at an intermediate point along said path between two of said pairs of shafts and at another of said pairs of shafts located between said two pairs of shafts. said head including:

an upper housing part mounted on said upper bearing plate and formed with a recess receiving said portion of the upper shaft of said other pair in the absence of its roller;

a lower housing part mounted on said lower bearing plate and formed with a r ecess receiving the said portion of the lower shaft of said other pair in the absence of its roller;

a first roller blade journaled on one of said housing parts for rotation about a vertical axis for engagement with a flange of a sheet-metal strip advanced along said path and rotatable only be engagement with the latter strip to incise a tongue therein;

a carriage shiftable on the other of said housing parts transversely of said path;

a second roller blade journaled on said carriage for rotation about a vertical axis and adapted to cooperate with said first blade to incise said tongue in the latter sheet-metal strip while being rotated only by engagement with said strip;

spring means bearing upon said carriage to urge said second blade away from said first blade; and

releasable locking means effective against the force of said spring means for retaining said carriage with said blades in cooperating relationship during incising of a tongue in said strip.

2. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein said carriage is mounted upon said lower housing part and said first blade is mounted on said upper housing part. said locking means including a bolt rotatable in said lower housing part and engageable with said carriage.

3. The improvement defined in claims 1 further comprising a bolt threaded into said lower bearing plate and extending through said upper bearing plate, said upper bearing plate being formed with a recess, a stack of cup springs received in the recess of said upper bearing plate and surrounding said bolt, and a nut threaded on to said bolt and bearing upon said stack.

* i i i t 

1. In an apparatus for producing an angle profile from a sheet-metal strip and comprising a pair of horizontal parallel bearing plates including an upper bearing plate and a lower bearing plate, a plurality of pairs of shafts journaled in said bearing plates, said pairs of shafts being horizontally spaced along said plates and having shaft portions defining a transport path for saId strip between the shafts of each pair, the shafts of each pair lying in common vertical planes transverse to said path and being coupled for synchronous rotation, said portions of said shafts being constructed to receive respective strip-profiling rollers, and a common drive for said shafts, the improvement which comprises: a tongue-cutting head mounted at an intermediate point along said path between two of said pairs of shafts and at another of said pairs of shafts located between said two pairs of shafts, said head including: an upper housing part mounted on said upper bearing plate and formed with a recess receiving said portion of the upper shaft of said other pair in the absence of its roller; a lower housing part mounted on said lower bearing plate and formed with a r ecess receiving the said portion of the lower shaft of said other pair in the absence of its roller; a first roller blade journaled on one of said housing parts for rotation about a vertical axis for engagement with a flange of a sheet-metal strip advanced along said path and rotatable only be engagement with the latter strip to incise a tongue therein; a carriage shiftable on the other of said housing parts transversely of said path; a second roller blade journaled on said carriage for rotation about a vertical axis and adapted to cooperate with said first blade to incise said tongue in the latter sheet-metal strip while being rotated only by engagement with said strip; spring means bearing upon said carriage to urge said second blade away from said first blade; and releasable locking means effective against the force of said spring means for retaining said carriage with said blades in cooperating relationship during incising of a tongue in said strip.
 2. The improvement defined in claim 1 wherein said carriage is mounted upon said lower housing part and said first blade is mounted on said upper housing part, said locking means including a bolt rotatable in said lower housing part and engageable with said carriage.
 3. The improvement defined in claims 1 further comprising a bolt threaded into said lower bearing plate and extending through said upper bearing plate, said upper bearing plate being formed with a recess, a stack of cup springs received in the recess of said upper bearing plate and surrounding said bolt, and a nut threaded on to said bolt and bearing upon said stack. 